Black And White
by WillySmith1510
Summary: Everybody has heard about the story of the Black Swordsman, but just how many know about the White Swordsgirl? Four years after the Sword Art Online incident, a young girl finally tracked down her idol, and now, she will retell the story of her journey through the deadly game in a new perspective. An untold story of the sword masters of Sword Art Online. Request fic Kirito x OC
1. Anniversary Reunion

"Oi! Natsu-chan! Over here!" A certain blond-haired girl called out to me.

"Coming!"

The weather today's not so bad, which is good news.

A group of three people awaited me at the train platform. Looks like I'm the last to arrive here...

"Where have you been, Natsumi!?" Hayako shouted. Heh, she's still the same as usual. "We've been waiting _forever_ for you!"

"Any much longer, and we'll going to miss the train." Akiko adjusted her glasses, but didn't get her eyes off the book she's reading.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" I sighed, surrendered. "It _wasn't _entirely my fault! If my stupid aunt hadn't stop taking a restroom break at the gas station..."

"Hah, you always blamed Amano-san for everything, ice queen!" Himeko teased while showing a mischievous smile, and I responded by staring frustratingly at her.

"Alright, girls." Someone cleared his throat. "Let's continue this on the train, shall we?"

I looked back, and saw a black-haired boy walking toward me. He's wearing a dark-blue shirt and black jeans, his hair as messy as usual. Alongside him is girl with orange-brownish hair in a white dress, holding his left hand as they're walking along. Both of them have bright smiles on their faces.

Just seeing him smile is enough to make all tiredness in me to melt away.

Kirigaya Kazuto.

"Me, Klein and Agil already take care of everything so you girls don't have to worry! Others are already waiting on the train." He explained.

"Hey! me and Shino-chan _did _help you, too!" Asuna stared at him disapprovingly. "And all you ever done is ordering us to do everything while you were nowhere to be seen!" She punched him lightly in the head.

"I was talking with my sister on the phone!" Kazuto defended. "You know how she is! She'll have my head if I don't answer her call!"

And then we all shared a good laugh before boarding the train.

* * *

Alright, so all the above might seem so random to you guys at first. Let me clarify things a bit.

My name is Sakura Natsumi, and me and my friends are survivors of the Sword Art Online incident.

You guys probably know what I'm referring to, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here.

Today's the fourth anniversary of the Sword Art Online incident; the day when that boy, Kirigaya Kazuto, _Kirito_, beats the game and freed us all from that nightmare. After two long years of torture, we've beaten the odds and survived it all. We are still alive.

But still, there are some who didn't make it, some who perished in that death game, some who were our friends.

And so, we held the anniversary every year, to honor those who were denied the chance to live.

This year, we decided to take a trip to Kyoto per the suggestion from Asada Shino, whose grandmother is living there. Even though she wasn't a victim of the SAO, she's also our friend who helped us a lot in our adventures, and we owe her a lot for many things she did for us.

My friends, as I've mentioned, consisted of my old party mates, Himeko, Hayako and Akiko, who are all pretty much the same as I remembered them back then, probably because we're in the same neighborhood, after all. Others are, of course, Kirigaya Kazuto, the 'hero' of SAO, and his 'wife', Yuuki Asuna. Kazuto's friends also joined the anniversary trip, namely 'Klein' and 'Agil'. Actually, Lizbeth and Silica are going to come with us, too, but well...they have their own businesses to attend to, university stuffs, something like that.

* * *

After a while, the train finally left the station.

"And you people all made such a great deal about missing the train..." I complained.

"At least you could've gotten here sooner!" Hayako argued. Heh, that girl _never _backs down, as always.

"She's probably just worried for you, Natsumi-san." Klein commented.

"I didn't worry for her, you idiot!" Hayako yelled, before hitting poor Klein in the head with her hand. "I worried that we're gonna miss the train!"

"You don't have to hit me!" Klein moaned.

"Because you're always such a jerk, stupid Klein!"

I giggled a bit. Heh, those two really got along together well since high school.

I glanced at Kazuto, who's sitting beside Asuna about two seats in front of us, chatting together happily. Sitting across them are Shino and Agil, the latter leaned back on his seat, already sleeping, probably because he was tired from all his works during the weekdays.

"So," Akiko began. "It's going to be a big while until we reached Kyoto. Why don't we find something to do?"

"Er...what are you suggesting, then?" Himeko asked.

Akiko reached into her bag, before pulling out several books and place them on her lap.

"Let's read some books!" She smiled.

_You've got to be kidding me, Akiko._

"Are you crazy!? All of these are in English!" Hayako exclaimed, her eyes widen in shock. "How the hell are we supposed to read them!?"

"Most of all, how in the blazes can you understand them!?" Himeko added, also with a surprised look on her face.

"Er, well, I just read them a lot. It's a good way to practice English, too. Ever heard of Rick Riordan? That guy's just awesome at fantasy novels!"

"You're just plain weird...in an awesome way." Hayako sighed. "Seriously, you should go study overboard someday."

"It's not like it's that hard, actually! You know, if you could get through Sword Art Online, most of the systems are in English, by the way, reading English novels' not that...what's wrong?" Akiko paused as she saw Hayako's face saddened. I could tell she's still troubled by her experiences inside that game. "...I'm sorry."

"Huh? Oh no, it's alright!" Hayako shook her head before giving a little reassuring smile. "It's just...it's been a while since we talked about Sword Art Online."

"Yeah, I haven't played that game for months now." Himeko added. "I'm just...I don't really feel like playing online games lately."

"A shame for you, really." Klein said. "You've been missing out a lot of cool things since the latest patch update! And you didn't see Kirito cleared all floors _again_ in, like, _two weeks_, from scratch! That guy's a maniac..."

"HEY! I heard that!" Kazuto shouted, while Asuna and Shino giggled.

"I'd love to see you in action again, White Swordsgirl." Klein turned to me. "You're just as good as Kirito, back then."

I turned to look outside the window as the scenery quickly pass us by.

_Four years already, huh?_

"Um, excuse me, miss?" A voice came up from behind me.

We turned to look, and saw a young girl looking at us.

"Er...I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but I heard something about 'White Swordsgirl'. Are you, by any chance, that legendary SAO player?"

_Whoa, legendary?!_

"Seems like you got a fanclub already, Natsu-chan!" Himeko teased. "There she is, young girl! That's the White Swordsgirl you're looking for."

The little girl's eyes widen.

"Awesome! I finally got to meet the legendary White Swordsgirl! Whee!" She cheered. "I'm a SAO player, too! My name is Marina! I heard a lot of cool things about you!"

"W-w-wait! Slow down!" I stammered. _How in the world!? _"H-how did you heard about me!?"

The little young girl, Marina, paused for a moment to think, before answered.

"Uh, my friends told me that during that...that incident...there were two players who managed to save everyone from the crisis and win the game together. I don't really know much, but I know that they are known by their nicknames 'Black Swordsman' and 'White Swordsgirl'."

Huh? Me? Saving everyone from the game?

Granted, I did do a lot of things back then to help others win the game, but really, it was only Kirito...I mean, Kazuto, who beats Heathcliff and freed everyone. I didn't help him.

"My big brother told me about you two, telling me that it was the two of you that saved his life. That's why I wanted to find you!"

Suddenly, she bowed her head.

"Thank you so much for saving my brother!" She said.

"Oi, oi, when did you do something like that, Natsumi? You never told me anything about this!" Hayako stared at me curiously.

"Now, now, this is something more interesting than my books." Akiko said, finally closing the book she's been reading since at the train station. "Why don't you share your stories with us, Natsu-chan?"

"I know you're not really a team player, Natsumi, but seriously? Damn, I gotta learn more about you!" Himeko grinned.

"I'd love to know that, too." Kazuto suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "We never really got to know each other that much in the game. Right, Natsumi-san?"

"Kyah! It's _the_ Black Swordsman! In a flesh!" Marina smiled happily.

"Yep! That's me!" Kazuto then put his right hand on his chest, before smiling proudly.

"Can you explain to me more about your time in SAO? Please?" Marina asked.

"Of course! I'd gladly give advices to a fellow SAO player!" Kazuto grinned.

"She's not talking to you, you idiot..." Asuna spoke. "She's talking with Natsumi-san."

And with that, Kazuto came crashing down onto the floor, earning everyone a good laugh.

"So, can you tell me more about your experiences back then, nee-san? Marina asked again, making a face that kind of hard to resist for me...

"Come on, Natsumi!" Klein said. "Everyone's eager to hear your stories!"

"It's been a while since we talked anything about SAO, so yeah, this is a good idea." Akiko added.

"I agreed with that. Since I'm not a SAO player myself, I'd love to know more about how things worked in that game." Shino appeared beside Asuna and Kazuto, who managed to get back up, but with an awkward look on his face.

Damn it, I gave up already.

"Alright, listen carefully," I sighed. It will be a big while till we arrived at Kyoto, anyway. Guess I can kill some time with this.

"It all began six years ago..."

* * *

**Editor's note: First of all, SORRY for the long inactive, guys! The long pause of my other SAO story, Sword Art Online: Alternate Story, will be continued in a while! I'm just kind of struggling at the moment, can't really figure out how to continue the story...You could say it's one form of writer's block...**

**Alright, so here's my new SAO story. A request OC fic by my fellow fanfic writer, Shiranai Atsune (her stories are awesome, people), about a young girl who's a former SAO player during the 'Sword Art Online Incident' retelling her journey in that game to a young girl whose brother she saved back then. This girl, Sakura Natsumi, known by her nickname as 'White Swordsgirl', was one of the top-tier players in Sword Art Online back then, almost on par with Kirito, and now, we're gonna find out how her actions has driven the plot of SAO forward, as well as her personal journey along with her friends in the deadly game. *IMPORTANT* So there's one of SAO fic called Sword Art Online: The White Swordgirl by Hibiko that was requested by the same writer and shared the same OC characters. Check that one out, too! :)**

**And for Atsune-san, I'm sorry this took so long! I'll update it as soon as I can, and I'll do my best with this story. Thank you for giving me a chance! :)**


	2. Link Start

It was a somewhat foggy day back then.

November 6th, 2022.

Anyone with at least an access to any information provider won't ever forget that day.

It's not every day you could find a news that made the headline of every newspaper, television, any online community in the world.

You all know how it went since the Sword Art Online server gone online, and people from around the world started logging in to enjoy this hell-of-a-game after a tiring day at school or workplace, without any slightest idea of what's going to happen to them at all.

But enough of that, this is _my_ story, how it all went by from my point of view.

"Natsumi! Natsumi! Where have you been!? Mom's getting mad, you know?!"

Good ol' Sakura Haruna, always worried after her sister. She'd make a greater mother for me than the _real_ one I had to bear with. Not to say that she's bad, but I don't really got along with her back then.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Tell her I'll be in my room." I said.

Haruna made a slightly disappointed face, but really, she understood the message well. I'm always like this when it comes to my mother.

"Your choice, sis. Don't get carried away with that new game of yours, by the way. I don't really like the idea of a video game that messes with your head."

She had _no idea_ how right she was.

"That's none of your business." I told her.

Haruna just chuckled.

"See you at dinner. I'm gonna go out shopping a bit."

And with that, she gave me a smile and ran away.

It took me two freaking years to finally see my dear sister again...

* * *

"Alright. Installation complete!" I mumbled with satisfaction at my computer screen as the Sword Art Online finished installing. Still find it hard to believe that a virtual world of such scale can be fitted into one tiny disc. Granted, it's a EX Blu-ray disc that could hold a dozen terabytes in it, but it still doesn't make it any less amazing at all.

_Whoever created this game, as well as the NerveGear, the very marvel of virtual reality development, is a freaking genius._

That's what I thought about him...Kayaba Akihiko...back then.

With an exciting smile on my face, I shut down my computer. The game's data's already stored in my NerveGear's portable storage so the computer's not needed...

* * *

["Right, right, sorry to butt in on this, but I want to clear something up." Himeko spoke up suddenly. "You _don't _have to explain _everything_ to us, okay? These are all common knowledge! Just get straight to your story! Listening to you felt like listening to my history teacher."

"Damn it, Himeko! Why don't you just shut up!? It's just my way of telling stories!" I cried out.

"Maybe this'll work better if _I'm_ the one telling the story. I usually sticks with you most of the time we're in the game, anyway." Hayako grinned.

"Not a chance. If you're the one narrating, we're gonna have my story without any _me_ in it..." I sighed.

"Please continue, Natsumi-neesan! I wanted to hear more when you finally logged into the game!" Marina asked, smiling cheerfully at me.

"Finally! Someone who understands!" I patted her head. "Good girl!"

"Note to self; don't let Natsumi do the narrating ever again." Klein mumbled. I smack him in the head with my fist before I continue the story.]

* * *

So, where did I left at? Ah, right, I was about to log into SAO.

Even though I'm a beta tester myself, and have some first-hand experiences with this kind of thing, the very thought of returning to the world of Aincrad again, this time in all its amazing glory, gave me goose bumps all over my body as I put my NerveGear around my head.

I laid myself on my bed, and adjusting myself so I'm in a comfortable position. You _won't_ like it at all if you logged off a virtual world and find yourself arched all over your body just because you don't laid down properly, but really, only an idiot would do that kind of mistake.

I checked the interface panel on the NerveGear. All systems' online. Everything is ready to go.

I lifted my head up a little and looked across my room one last time. I don't know why I did that, it was like, a hitch or something.

Finally, I closed my eyes, grinned as I did so, before saying a couple of words that changed my life forever.

"Link start!"

Within seconds, everything around me went white.

Data waves surged past me, before bringing me to the startup menu, allowing me to choose the languages, accounts and changing basic settings, something you guys already know. I choose my beta tester account, named 'Sakumi', and inputted the password. After that, I let the system do its job.

Finally, the logo 'Sword Art Online' appeared, and I found myself standing at the center of a large open ground with hundreds of people, and more are appearing in this very area.

This is the place that is the beginning of it all...the Town of Beginnings.

I grinned as I explored the world around me. Everything was so perfect, the atmosphere, the environment, the graphic details, they were so breathtaking!

["You didn't mean that literally, did you?" Akiko raised her eyebrow.]

Ah, okay, alright, so maybe 'breathtaking' isn't really an appropriate word, considering what happened half an hour later, but really...

So, there I was, running around the town like a maniac, exploring the area. Even though I already did it back when I was a beta tester, the feeling at the moment was nothing like it. In beta test, there's only a few dozen players around minding their own businesses, and some areas in the town are restricted from enter as they weren't finished yet. At its completion, the Town of Beginnings sprang into life as players from around the world directly chatting, partying, doing activities together, and the NPCs actually interacting like real life humans as well.

After getting all the items I needed, and did a couple of beginner quests in the city for some extra starting money, I left for the town outskirts to get into some real action.

* * *

["And this is the part where _I_ showed up!" Hayako said excitingly.

"Damn it, Hayako! That's why I _never _let you tell the stories!" I yelled while Hayako's just laughing at me.

"Just don't _ruin_ this part, ice queen! Or else..."]

* * *

So yeah, well, she just spoiled that part, so I'm gonna skip it.

["Hey!"]

Alright, fine!

As I was strolling just outside the town entrance, I saw a female player with long blonde hair struggling with some boars surrounding her. She managed to barely took down one but stumbled and fell down in the progress. Other boars were circling around her, waiting for a chance to strike.

"Somebody help me!" She screamed.

I rushed to that player's aid, before using my sword skills to slice two boars to oblivion in one strike. The other three boars then turned their attention from the downed player to me and rushed in. I moved my sword in one swift movement, and sent the closest boar into another, deleting them both. The last one was smart enough to run away after seeing me dispatched its friends.

Heh, the development team really thought of everything, weren't they?

"Are you alright?" I walked toward the downed player, who's nursing the back of her head.

"Ouch, that hurts..." She groaned. "These sword skills are so hard to use!"

* * *

["You're such a noob, Hayako." Klein teased. Hayako just blushed and hit him with her elbow.

"D-don't call me that, you idiot!"

"It's not like you're any better back then, Klein." Kazuto grinned evilly at his friend.

"Aw! Cut us some slack! We were newbies back then! Up until we got our hands on the SAO copies, we only played normal PC games and the like. You know, those that _don't _take you inside computer-generated worlds. You don't understand how hard it is to actually _use_ your whole body to execute commands in a video game!" He protested.

"That's what you get for not paying attention to tutorials." Asuna remarked.

"But really, I was _getting killed_ back then! I've only realize it just now. If Natsumi didn't come to me when she did, I wouldn't be here..." Hayako's face saddened.

Everyone went quiet after this statement, knowing full well that the awful truth will be revealed soon.

I decided to continue my story.]

* * *

Hayako finally managed to get up from the ground, before smiling awkwardly at me.

"Um, thank you for saving me!" She said.

"It's alright."

"You were so cool! You took down those monsters like they were nothing! I thought I was fighting mini-bosses or something!"

["I don't recall myself saying that!" Hayako pouted.]

I giggled a bit as I looked at her HP bar. It was down to about half. Her screen name showed 'Link' as her name.

"Those boars sure give good EXPs for starting players, but they are also the weakest enemies in this game." I explained. Hayako widen her eyes in surprise.

"I'm so hopeless!" She cried out. "I can't even beat those things!"

"Hey, it's okay." I told her. "Just practice! It isn't that hard. Just took down one of them at a time and you're okay."

"W-will you help me?" She asked. "You must be a beta tester, seeing the way you played earlier. Can you help teach me the basics of the game?"

"W-whoa..." I exclaimed. Really, I wasn't expecting that back then. "I-I'm not really that experienced..."

"But you're good at this! Please! I won't get anywhere if I'm still like this!" Link begged.

I sighed. _Maybe I could spare some time._ I thought. The girl seemed friendly, it won't hurt to help her out a bit.

"Alright. I'll teach you how to use sword skills." I finally said.

"Yay!"

And then, we went off to find some monsters to kill.

* * *

["Alright, let's take a break here." I decided.

"Wha?! But you're barely getting anywhere!" Hayako protested. "And don't get me started about how you _completely_ changed how I really was back then!"

"Can't I just get a toilet break?" I asked.

Hayako sighed. "Stupid ice queen..."

Akiko went back to reading her book, while Himeko chuckled. "Up til now, I just can't believe you really choose 'Sakumi' as your in-game name. I mean, _really?_ Sakura Natsumi, _Sakumi?_ Damn, that's so cliché as hell."

"What's wrong with it? Besides, Kazuto did that, too." Sinon spoke.

"It wasn't my best name, okay? It's just...I'm not really good at making names so I decided to make do with what I have." Kazuto answered.

"Please continue the story soon, Natsumi-neesan!" Marina said. "I wanted to know what happened during the official launch!"

Ah, official launch...that dreaded event...

"Well, that's gonna be later, Marina-chan." I told her. "I'll be back soon!"

And with that, I left for the train lavatory.]

* * *

**Editor's note: So much for the 2nd chapter and my inability to continue my previously existing stories...**

**Really, people. I don't know what the hell's going on with me, but I just can't find any idea to continue writing. So much to do, so little time, I can barely focused on something for more than ten minutes. This is just sad... T-T**

**And Shiranai-san, I looked back at your Sakumi OC profile and found that I made some mistakes about her friends, Hayako and Akiko are supposed to be **_**males**_** (and I have all these plots planned to ship Hayako with Klein...so awkward as heck...), but I made them females in my story, because I thought their names sounded female, but maybe that's just me. If you don't like it, I can change them back to your preferred gender. It's only two chapters in and not much into the story so it's still fine. Your call. :) I can continue the story either way, just give me some time to focus myself...**

**Please read and review! I'll appreciate it very much! :)**


	3. Opening Launch

[Seriously, hadn't it for the train's about to leave, I should've taken a toilet break at the train station.

Using the train lavatory's freakin' uncomfortable at best.

Well, I have no choice about that, right?

Anyway, because of that, Hayako was _really _mad when I got back to my seat.

"What the HELL have you been doing in the lavatory!?" She asked. "It took ages for you to get back!"

"Thirty-two minutes and fifteen seconds, to be exact." Akiko added.

"Yeah, thanks for the - wait, did you _counted!?_" I asked in disbelief.

"Seriously, Natsumi." Akiko frowned. "What idiot in their right mind would do something like that. I just made it up!"

"Well, nobody ever said that she's in _her_ right mind." Klein whispered into Kazuto's ear, but earned another smack in the head from Hayako, who heard what he said.

"Alright, alright! Enough of the boring stuffs! It's time for _you_ to continue your story, Natsumi!" Himeko demanded. "We've been waiting _forever_ for you!"

"Yeah, you're always the one to make us wait! Let's get on with this already!" Hayako agreed.]

* * *

Okay, I'll admit, I have the tendency to make others wait.

Seriously, it's like it's one of my bad habits right now.

So, er, where did I left at? Oh, right. The _exciting _part.

["You made it sounds like some simple, everyday stuff, Natsu-san..." Kazuto sighed.

"Well, it's not like getting struck inside a virtual reality is anything new these days." Asuna said.]

Ah, yeah, that's about it.

So, after training Hayako, um, I mean Link, until she can finally beats some monsters on her own, as well as gaining a couple of levels for her, the sun starts to set, and we realize that it's time for us to part ways.

"Well, that's about it! You can handle yourself in battle now!" I told her after seeing her dispatched five boars in a role without me assisting.

"It's all thanks to you!" She smiled. "Without you helping, I wouldn't have done a single sword skill. Those stuffs are so hard to understand!"

["Aaannd you made me sounds like an idiot again. Way to begin a story, ice queen."

"Shut up."]

"It's okay. It just takes some practice and it'll all turn out fine. You're doing really well yourself!" I said.

We stared at the brown sky.

"It's been this late already, huh? Looks like it's time for my dinner now." Link said.

"Same goes for me, Link. My sister's gonna kill me if I stayed here any longer." I replied.

And we both opened our menus.

"The heck!? Where's the log out button?" Link spoke.

"Huh?"

"There's no log out button on the menu."

I stared at the menu screen in front of me. To my surprise, there isn't a log out button on my menu, too.

"What the hell?" Link started panicked. "Why isn't there a log out button on the menus!?"

"Stay calm, Link. It's probably just a minor malfunction. It's just the first day out of beta, after all. There's bound to be some glitches." I said to calm her down, but really, I was a little bit panicked, too.

Glitches are fine, but this is too serious to be just a glitch. An online game without a log out button? Especially the finished product just first day out of beta? An overlook on the programmers' side or not, they shouldn't have made this serious mistake.

And even if they _did_ do it, they should've announced it to the players so they don't panic, but there's nothing. They just made one mistake after another!

But...

_What if this isn't a mistake_? I asked myself. Something told me that this isn't just a mistake.

["You're clever, Natsumi." Kazuto complimented. "You figured out something was wrong way faster than me."

"Thanks!" I grinned.

"You just made that up!" Hayako protested. "I never remembered you ever saying that!"

"Then I must have a better memory than you, Hayako." I teased her. She just pouted and crossed her arms.]

"So what do we do now?" Link asked. "I already sent a message to the GM, but no replies are sent back. Aren't there an emergency log out or something!?"

"No. The only way we can log out is through the menu." I told her. "Otherwise, someone else in the real world must remove the NerveGear from our heads to forcibly log us out, and that is _not _recommended at all."

"Damn it! How do we get out of this game now!?"

* * *

["Heh, looks like somebody's a little afraid, huh?" Klein teased. Hayako just blushed without saying anything.

"Don't tease the girl, Klein. It's not like you were any better than her." Kazuto said.

"Wha!? At least I'm not panicking like hell or something!"

"Yeah, you talked about how you're late for your pizza, and asking me about my sister, something like that, if I remember correctly."

This time, it is Klein who blushed.

"I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!" He yelled.

"How could I forget about our first meeting, you idiot?" Kazuto laughed.]

* * *

So yeah, while I was figuring out what was going on, I heard something in the distance.

A bell ringing.

That low, haunting sound echoed throughout the first floor.

"Wha?! What's happening!?" I heard Link yelled out.

I turned to her, but instead saw a white light glowed out from the place she just stood earlier.

"Link! What's-"

Before I know it, the same white light appeared under me as well, and as it consumed me, I only have enough time to yell out the only thing that was on my mind at that moment

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

The next thing I know, I'm back in the Town of Beginnings at the center plaza.

I looked around, and saw hundreds of players all around me.

"Sakumi! Sakumi! Where are you!?" I heard someone called me.

It was Link.

"I'm here!"

I followed the voice through the crowd, which just keep getting bigger as more people teleported in one after another, until I reached her.

"What's going on! This isn't normal at all!" She panicked again, and this time, even my body's start shivering, too.

We've just been forced to teleport. There are only two cases this would mean.

A bug in the system, which is out of question because it never happens in a large scale like this. This leaves only the second case, and that is an emergency.

"Hey, look!" Link spoke, her finger pointing at the sky above. "There's something up there!"

I stared at the brown sky above, and saw a red-blinking hexagon...thing on it.

On it has a comment that reads _WARNING_.

Seconds later, it suddenly expanded. Numerous red hexagon things appeared out of nowhere, covered the sky in a crimson-red color.

And that was not the worst part.

After that, something liquid leaked through them. It was red in color, almost similar to blood. It quickly gathered into a single shape, sparkling blue electrics as it's doing so.

Finally, we found ourselves standing face to face with a red-hooded being floating in the air above us. It has no face.

"Is that...the game master!?" I heard someone spoke.

"Is this a special event or something? Maybe it's the opening launch event!"

"But...but this is so scary! What's gonna happen!?"

"It's going to be fine! It's just an event!"

Boy, if only they realized it...

Seconds later, an orchestral music began playing, as the red-hooded being raised its arms.

"Attention, players." It spoke. "Welcome to my world."

"Wow! This is so exciting!" A young girl said.

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the only sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the log out button is missing from the main menu."

He then opened the game menu to show us. The logout button has still not reappeared.

"But this is not a defuct in the game. I repeat, this is not a defuct in the game."

_Wha...what the hell is he thinking!? _I thought. My body started sweating.

"This is a feature of Sword Art Online."

And that confirmed my fears.

"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves, and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus, _ending_ your life."

"WHAT!?" A lot of people shouted simultaneously.

"Come on, drop the act already! I want to play the game!" A man spoke, before walking to the exit. To everyone's surprise, an invisible barrier blocked him from getting out.

"The hell is this!? Let me out!"

"This...this is not normal at all, Sakumi..." Link grabbed my arm. "He's gotta be joking. Right, right?"

"He's not joking." I told her. "The NerveGear transmitter's signal works just like microwaves. If the safety block is disabled, it could trigger a signal overload that could fry a brain. We can't also cut the power because the NerveGear has an internal battery."

"But this is crazy! Why would he be doing something like this to us!?"

"Unfortunately," Kayaba continued. "Several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear."

_Oh, no. This is going to be bad._

"As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone _forever_, from both Aincrad...and the real world."

"I don't believe it, I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Some guy shouted up. I turned to look, and saw a red-haired boy with a scarf on his head.

["Hey! That was me!" Klein said excitingly. "Never thought we were standing that close to each other back then!"

"Aw, to hell with you, Klein! You just ruined a serious moment!" Hayako shouted, then punched Klein in the face.

"Damn it, Hayako! It's Natsumi's fault for bringing that up!" He argued.

"And that's because nobody expected some idiot to interrupt the story." I told him, before deciding to continue.]

"As you can see," Kayaba continued while bringing up numerous TV screens surrounding him. "News organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. "

"Damn it, how could he says all of this so casually! His game just killed someone!" Link spoke. "That's it! I'm fed up with this game!"

As for me, I stared at the moving TV screens above me. Kayaba wasn't kidding. They were real television news reporting about victims in an online game incident. One screen even depicted a young girl crying and falling to her knees while her mother tried to comfort her.

"But I want you to remember this clearly; there is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost, and in the mean time,"

The TV screens then disappeared.

"The NerveGear will destroy your brain."

His haunting voice echoed throughout the plaza.

"Damn it..." I clenched my fists. What rights did he have to do this to us!?

"There is only one means to escape this game, and that is to complete the game." Kayaba explained. "You are currently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, the first floor. If you make your way through the dungeons and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on the hundredth floor, and you will clear the game."

"Y-you're kidding! We need to beat our way through all hundred floors!? That's impossible!" Link shouted, as well as some other players who did something similar.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."

I did as he said, and opened my item menu. Previously, I already sold all my items to the city merchant NPC, so there should be no item in there.

But now, there is one.

_Mirror?_ I thought as I pressed the _Use_ command on the item. _What's a mirror doing here?_

My question got answered soon enough.

"AHHHHH!" Link screamed. A white-blue light glowed under her again, as well as several other players around us.

Eventually, the same thing happened to me to, and shortly after, the whole plaza got covered in the light.

The next thing I know, I stared at the mirror again, only to find my face, my _avatar_ face, turned into my real one. My long silver hair and gold eyes in the reflection confirmed it.

"Huh? Who are you?" Someone spoke.

I turned to look, and saw..._someone else_, in Link's costume.

She has a twintail blonde hair, and brown eyes.

"Y-you're Link/Sakumi!?" We said simultaneously, staring at each other in confusion. Mumblings all around us told me that other players had similar reactions.

Must be pretty awkward for those male players who choose female avatars, and those old guys who played as young players.

Suddenly, it all kicked in to me.

_That scan._

The scan that the NerveGear requested that we did before we logged in.

It made perfect sense.

You guys already understand how it works, so I'm skipping it, okay?

So, back to that bastard Kayaba.

"Right now, you're probably wondering 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all of this?' My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason; to create this world and intervene in it, and now, it is complete."

He said it in such a satisfied, joyous voice, as if he just successfully completed a science experiment.

"This ends the tutorial for the Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, my dearest players..."

Finally, he finished.

His body started melting away and disappeared, along with the red sky above it, turning it back into the evening sky.

A stunning silence then followed,

And just right after that, after the realization of the harsh truth finally kicked in,

It can only led into one thing:

Chaos.

* * *

**Editor's note: First of all, I'm sorry for the very, VERY long update Atsune-san! I've been a very busy man this past month and I barely had any time continuing my stories, please forgive me for this! :(**

**And yeah, this chapter led into nothing interesting, almost not worth the wait, I know it. I just rewatched the first episode and copied Kayaba's lines into the chapter and tweaks it just a little bit, that's all. I really, **_**really **_**want to come up with something original, but due to the OC backstories, I tried to keep it as close as the anime canon as possible. Any suggestions are welcomed!**

**Thank you for your patience! And hopefully I will continue this soon! Don't give up! :)**


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